Using InfoCrop : a user friendly crop simulation model for mustard (Ramakrishna, Y. S. (Yezzu Sri))

Crop models can accelerate inter-disciplinary knowledge utilization in agricultural research and development. These models present an opportunity for assessing potential production in a region and facilitate analysis of the sustainability options for agricultural development including planning of resource allocation. The greater application of crop models in agricultural research and developments, however, requires a simple, user-friendly modeling framework, whose inputs are easily available/ measurable. In addition, the framework should provide a structure that can be easily adapted by the application developers. Most of the existing models are too complex with large input data requirement, cannot be easily integrated in the application, and are not very user-friendly. InfoCrop is a crop growth model that was developed by the Indian Agricultural Research Institute in New Delhi, India. It is a decision support system based on crop models that was developed by a network of scientists to provide a platform to scientists and extension workers to build their applications around it and to meet the goals of stakeholders' need for information. These models are designed to simulate the effects of weather, soils, agronomic management, nitrogen, water and major pests on crop growth and yield, water and nitrogen management, and greenhouse gases emission. Its general structure is based on a large number of earlier models and the expertise of the scientists involved.